


A boy of blue and gold

by flowerflood



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Angst, Canonical Character Death, Dark, Drama, Forrests, I'm so fucking sorry i finally proofread this bitch and it was a nightmare i'm sorry, M/M, Romanticism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-15
Updated: 2019-11-29
Packaged: 2020-10-19 03:13:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,397
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20650259
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flowerflood/pseuds/flowerflood
Summary: Luke's laugh rips through the silence of the early morning as he runs along bushes and trees, so fast it's easy too miss him.But this isn't a man, Artemis thinks, this is just a boy, just a child. One that needs to be protected from its future and itself, at that. She isn't going to chase him away, too many people have already done that.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Luke is like 14, I guess. He grows up a little as the story progresses, but when him and Percy meet, he isn't over 15 and Percy isn't much younger than him, so calm your shit, @antis

The wet moss lets his feet sink into them as he runs, cold mud splashing up at his bare legs, pale legs. He laughs at the feeling and keeps running.

He's just a child, but his future will be so incredibly dark, Artemis thinks as she watches. This is her forrest, her territory. She cares for its plants and creatures with love and affection.

Even though she doesn't like men, she allows them here. As long as they don't disturb too much, they aren't chased out. 

Luke's laugh rips through the silence of the early morning as he runs along bushes and trees, so fast it's easy too miss him. 

But this isn't a man, Artemis thinks, this is just a boy, just a child. One that needs to be protected from its future and itself, at that. She isn't going to chase him away, too many people have already done that. 

The deer and rabbits run alongside him and Luke stares in awe for a moment, before he laughs again, a childish laugh. There's a wound on his cheek, covered in blood soaked bandaids for the lack of better tools and broader knowledge. 

It makes Artemis' stomach ache with fear and worry. Such a little boy; only fourteen, but with a dark future ahead of him. 

She takes the form of a deer, one with golden eyes and silver fur. It's obvious that she isn't one of the others, but the animals don't shy away from her. They know her, even in this disguise.

When the young boy's eyes set on her, they widen and a gasp erupts from his throat, before he mutters a soft 'wow'. Neither of them stop running.

When they do, though, he leans against a huge old tree, trying to catch his breath, while the deer spread out of the meadow in the middle of the forrest to graze. 

Artemis stays at Luke's side. 

Even if she doesn't like men, this is just a child. She must protect him, she can feel it. Nobody else is going to do it.

...

The next time he's in her forrest, a girl is with him. She is about his age, a little taller, with dark, short hair and iceblue eyes. She looks fierce and lethal.

Artemis thinks she likes her.

Luke runs slower than usually so she can keep up with him. They grin at each other, laugh and radiate so much love the animals can't do anything but follow them. They run at their sides, while the forrest's mistress watches with old eyes.

After some time they slow down and sit on the meadow, holding hands. Artemis can tell they aren't in love, but the two do love each other. 

"Do you like it at camp?" Thalia asks quietly, a soft smile on her face. She rarely ever looked so at ease.

"It's nice. We're not alone anymore. But... We- Annie and I, we miss you." He speaks quietly as well, but more like he's scared of anyone hearing him. "It's hard."

That is the thing: Thalia isn't here. Luke is imagining her. Artemis knows. This is her forrest, she knows about everything in it. 

"I will come back for you." She reaches out and places a hand on Luke's cheek, where now more professional looking badaids cover the wound the dragon caused Luke when he failed his mission.

Luke's clear blue eyes are filled with sadness, disstress and tears. He hiccups and tears start streaming down his cheeks. 

Suddenly, Thalia is gone and Luke is alone. 

He sits on the meadow, leaning against a tree, crying because his best friend is, as far as he knows, dead. Loud sobs errupt from him and he wraps his arms around himself.

He wants to bang his head against the tree, scratch himself, get out his dagger and stab himself or simply wait until the night comes and he will freeze to death. 

The pain is just too powerful. It overcomes him in huge waves and leaves him feeling like he's drowning. Maybe he is.

Artemis can't watch it. She can't watch the boy crying and hurting like that. He is helpless and vulnerable. 

So she comes down to him and holds him, until he stops crying. 

"Do you want me to teach you how to shoot a man, boy?" Artemis asks, her voice soft and smooth like liquid gold. She smiles down at him and strokes his hair out of his face. 

Luke nods, sniffling, but with a small smile on his face now. "Yeah, I- thank you, lady Artemis.."

...

The son of Hermes visits Artemis' forrest often. When he feel sad, alone, misses Thalia or wishes for everything to be different, he takes off his shoes and begins to run.

Artemis can barely watch the boy. It hurts to see him, to see his sadness grow and anger take over and to see him be controlled. 

Because even though Luke doesn't know it, can't know it, Cronus is already there, is whispering into his ear from time to time.

The only thing Luke noticed was that he's slowly being drained, that something, anything, inside him seems to want to tear him apart and that he feels weak enough to fall over any minute. 

He is just a boy, Artemis thinks, as she watches Luke jump over a crashed tree like it's nothing and keep running. 

There is too much pain and dread ahead of him, she thinks, as her animals start joining Luke and running alongside him.

They stay at a distance now, unlike in the past, because now there is a monster inside Luke, scaring them off and he doesn't even know it exists. 

The huntress blinks away tears as she watches his pale face. 

Not even a year ago, it still lit up in joy and laughter when Luke jumped and ran through her forrest, animals at his sides, showing no fear whatsoever. 

Now, he looks empty and tired, about to fall over in exhaustion. He doesn't even know Cronus is sucking it out of him, taking his energy and building himself up, like a virus that is spreading, until Luke will be dead. 

A tear streams down her cheek. 

He has no idea what has happened to him, he has no idea what is yet to happen to him, yet still he tries to be happy, tries to cling to what once brought him joy. 

Sadly, nothing can bring him joy anymore. Cronus takes it all and swallows it whole, like he once did with his children.

Artemis wants to help him, but she can't.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Percy Jackson has arrived at camp.

Luke runs through the forrest again, his eyes red and filled with tears that slowly seek their way down his cheeks and chin.

He left his shoes at his cabin. His bare feet push into the muddy ground and come out covered in dirt mud and leafs, but the boy can't bring himself to care as he makes his way deeper into the woods.

Loud, childish sobs errupt from his throat and oh gods, Artemis thinks to herself, why isn't anyone helping the poor boy?

The animals stay away from him. They are scared of what rests within him by now, scared of what the Titan sleeping deep within the innocent child might do.

They are much wiser than Luke, who does not know of anything within him. 

Finally, he breaks down at the meadow, where a year ago he would have sat laughing, not crying, and would not have been even close to breaking down from exhaustion.

But Cronus is draining Luke, thus he does not have a choice. He cries as he sits, leaning against the trunk of the tree, muddy feet pulled up to his body. 

A silver deer settles next to him and stares off into the distance with him. 

Even though they don't touch, Luke can feel the comfort radiating off of it, can feel that it's here because of him, not despite him. He draws in a shaky breath and tilts his head back at the sky, eyes closed as he sinks down just slightly.

Percy Jackson has arrived at camp.

Luke likes Percy. Percy likes Luke. 

It's hard to keep up the facade of being happy. He knows nobody can help him, Cronus has told him often enough for him to believe it, so he doesn't say anything.

Cronus is draining him. His mind, as well as his body, are drained. He has gotten paler and thinner, no matter how much he eats and goes outside. He looks sick constantly. Annabeth is worried.

He likes helping everyone, he likes the kids, he likes being a part of the camp, he likes being one of the leaders. Yet with Percy, it is all different.

He likes Percy in a different way, a way that makes his stomach flutter and his head spin and all he wants to do is put his hands on the other boy's cheeks and pull him in to kiss him. 

Maybe it's because Percy understands him. Maybe it's because Percy is just as sad as him.  
Maybe it's because he doesn't have Thalia anymore. 

Artemis feels Luke's sorrow, even in her disguise. Well, it isn't as much of a disguise as of a different form than her usual one, for Luke knows perfectly well that it is the goddess, lying next to him.

Artemis has always hoped Luke would never fall in love.

She only made that mistake once and, oh, did she have to pay dearly for that mistake. She had hoped Luke would choose an easier path for himself. 

But love cannot be chosen, Aphrodite sighs, from where she sits high up on the clouds, eyes sparkling. Love cannot be chosen, for love chooses on its own. 

Thus, Luke and Percy have been chosen by love, though love has no interest in making their story an easy one. 

Both of them suffer the consequences.

...

It's in that same forrest that Luke and Percy kiss for the first time.

It's awkward and their noses bump against each other's at first, neither of them having had much practice in kissing yet, but it's enough. It makes Luke feel happier than he has felt in months.

They sit on the meadow and it's dark. The harpies can't find them, though, Luke made sure of that, before he showed up at Percy's cabin, told him, "I want to show you something. C'mon, pretty boy." and took his hand.

He lead him through the forrest, both of them on bare feet, and Luke, even if it is just for one night, forgot about Cronus. He has yet to remember him as he kisses Percy.

Percy places a hand on Luke's cheek, the one with the scar, and after flinching away, Percy moves to pull his hand away, but Luke puts his hand on his, smiles at him and leanes into the touch. 

Nobody has touched his scar since it formed on his cheek, marking him for the rest of his life. Still, he trusts Percy enough to do it. 

"I like you." Percy whispers softly, his fingers stroking over the soft tissue of the scar. Luke blushes underneath his fingers, looks down. "I like you too." He whispers back.

Above them, the stars sparkle, seemingly just for them. They sit there for a while, touching each other, kissing, sometimes simply looking up at the sky.

"Do you like it at camp?" Luke asks, as quiet as he would speak if he was in his cabin with all of his brothers, trying not to wake them.

Percy thinks for a moment, then nodds and smiles at Luke. "It's nice. I miss my mom, though.." The smile falters. 

"Me too." Luke says, Percy moves to respond, but Luke already leans over to shut him up with another kiss to his oh so rosy, but a bit chapped lips.

May the gods bless them, Artemis thinks.

...


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tbh, shit's getting darker

The summer passes, fall brings the leaves of the trees down, winter covers them in snow and spring lets them grow again. 

Summer has only just begun, the holidays dawn on the halfbloods and, although some are reluctant to admit it, they are glad for that. They are glad to be going back to camp half blood, despite having to leave their families behind for the time.

Artemis is happy to see the children roaming in her forrest again. She protects them from evil as well as she can, shields the section of the forrest they're in from monsters, no matter if it is girls or boys playing between sticks, stones and leaves. 

They're all children, they all have a hard life. All of them deserve protection. 

She regards the actions of other gods sadly, but wordlessly. In fact, she has been doing this for hundreds of years. 

The cycle repeats itself every year again; gods find humans they take a liking to, maybe fall in love with, maybe just want to have a good night with, resulting in unwanted children being born. 

They're abandoned, sometimes emotionally, sometimes physicially. Sometimes they're killed by their own mortal parent.

Artemis has never understood it, but she has always hated it.

She hated it even more once the monster inside Luke revealed itself to the world for the first time, right in her forrest, on her sacred ground, taking over his body, possessing him, forcing him to try to murder his own boyfriend. 

Percy got away with a scare and a broken heart.

What happened to Luke, Artemis isn't sure. It was a year ago since she had last seen him, when he, or rather Cronus, ran through her forrest.

He ran, not nearly as fast as Luke usually did, when he used Hermes' blessing of speed. The mud splashed up at his feet more violently, the earth seemed to bend to his will underneath his feet, animals stayed out of sight. 

They could feel his presence and they were scared. They had reason to be. 

After Cronus opened a portal with his scythe, the one that had been the sword Backbiter only moments before, and had jumped through it, Artemis hasn't seen Luke again. 

Artemis hasn't seen Luke again and to be quite honest, she is afraid to, for she knows better than most what Cronus is capable of.

Never, though, would she bend to his will. Never would she leave Luke, the child she has watched for so long, the child she has almost adopted as one of her own, to the beast that would eat him up alive and then toss away the bones. 

As long as she can still stand, she will fight the Titan of Time, her Hunters by her side.

Someone needs to protect this boy, for he is not yet a man, but only a child, tossed into a morbid game of catch by cruel gods. 

...

Artemis not only watches over Luke, but also over the boy he picked to be his lover the year prior. 

As summer comes around, Percy does too, and he visits the forrest more frequently than ever before. 

Maybe because it is where Luke and Percy first confessed their feelings for each other, the goddess thinks, maybe because it is where they shared their first kiss. Maybe because he wants to escape the questions by his peers about his lover turned enemy. 

Maybe all of them share a bit of truth.

Artemis doesn't know. What she knows, though, is the pain a broken heart spreads through one's body. She knows how it hurts. She knows what poison it is. 

Instead of running by Luke's side in form of a silver deer, she now walks by the side of the one Luke left behind. 

She does her best to mend the broken pieces of Percy's heart Luke shattered when he gave up the fight against Cronus and let him take over, but it isn't easy. 

Sometimes Percy and Artemis just walk, side by side, wordlessly. Sometimes, Artemis even dares to take human form, the form of a girl of about nineteen years, six foot tall, dark hair and pale silver eyes. 

With desperation she tries to give the boy advice, but often enough she can't find any. 

Where Percy has lost a lover, Artemis has lost a child. 

It pains her deeply, causes her to scream and shout, bang her fists against trees, until Apollo has to calm her down by hugging her so tightly she has no choice but to give in and cry, like a mortal mother would cry.

She can't imagine how the other gods manage this grief.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "The son of Hermes is dead."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Boi I made myself cry pls someone stop me

It has been years since Artemis last saw Luke running through the forrest, the deer and rabbits at his sides, even some wolves giving in to the passion and joy he radiated in waves.

Back then, Luke laughed and smiled, reached out to the animals, but didn't touch them, because that wouls have meant he would have to stop running.

In a way, he never stopped running. Artemis is certain that he still runs, only now it's only in his head, right where Cronus keeps him trapped. 

Cronus has built an army for himself. Artemis sees them as they march down Manhattan bridge. 

Just for a moment, maybe a second, she asks herself if they might actually not be able to win this war. She decides they have to. She has to. For her son. 

Her look wanders over to Percy. They nod at each other. Both of them love Luke, though in vastly differing ways. 

Percy once had a lover in him, Artemis a child. Now all that is left of him is a shell for a titan, only using him to gain power and win a war. A war he might pay for with his life.

"For our freedom! For our lives! For our loved ones!" Artemis yells, her bow raised above her head. Her look is fierce, with the physical form she took nearly seven foot tall. She glares at the other side of the bridge, where Cronus and his army stand. 

For freedom. For life. For love.

Artemis, as well as her hunters, scream as they charge into battle. Her feet are bare, but she couldn't care less as they touch the cold and violent street beneath her. 

Thalia runs at her side, her sword raised and ready to strike. Electricity sparkles around them. Zeus is with them, in this battle. 

...

Percy holds back his sobs, clutching the dagger Annabeth meant to give Luke in his hand. He had snapped it away from her, before Luke's hand could reach it.

"No. No, you- you can't die. Not yet. We-" He fals to his knees next to him, grabbing a hold of his arm. "Luke, we wanted- I wanted to be with you. You can't let it end like this. We can't- I can't lose you. Please, I-" 

His voice breaks and he has to bite his lip voilently to hold back sobs. The tears, however, he cannot hold back. They fall down onto Luke's armor, where he lies on the floor.

Luke's expression is pained. For the last few years, his eyes had been golden, but now they're blue and filled with tears, some of which are already streaming down his face. 

"Percy, give me-" "NO!" 

Percy suprises himself with his scream, but doesn't flinch away, doesn't move from Luke's side. He squeezes his hand tighter.

"There has to be- there must be a way! I can't let you go! Not like this! Please, Luke, I love you. I love you so much. You have to stay. I don't know how I'll-"

He chokes and leans down, his forehead pressed against Luke's. He whispers in Greek, whispers how much he loves him and how sorry he is. 

While doing so, he lets the dagger slip from his hand to Luke's. He feels as a jolt goes through Luke's body, holds him close as he spits blood on himself and Percy, but neither of them care.

They're crying and holding on to each other for dear life, until one of them isn't anymore.

Artemis kneels down next to Percy after a few minutes, and together they wrap Luke's body in a shroud. 

Percy calls out, his voice cracking and threatening to break off completely, as he declares, 

"The son of Hermes is dead."


End file.
